Mop head



y 1937- R. MAEDA 2,081,631

MOP HEAD Filed Jan. 13, 1936 ILZ l2 INVENTO/Z' R. MAEDA Patented May 25, 1937 I UNi'iE STATE PATENT QFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to mop heads, and particularly to means for binding together the several members of such heads.

In the use of mops, for cleaning floors and the like, it is common to use clamps as jaws for holding the various forms of fabric for such mops; but great difliculty has been encountered in attempts to provide suitable means for connecting the jaws with the ordinary handles and ferrules, or socklO' ets thereon. Some of such difficulties have been caused by reason of the movement of the mops and jaws against the objects to be mopped, whereby the jaws and connecting parts become loosened, and in other cases one or more of the members frequently become worn or rusted and otherwise injured, so that they can be no longer used.

And in the ordinary method of connecting the several parts of the head, the entire assembly must be then discarded, owing to the difliculty of separating such parts. Difficulties have also been found in attempting to so bind unwoven fabric between the jaws, that it will not become loosened and move while in use.

Attempts have been made to attach such jaws and handle sockets, by providing within the sockets a ridge, and then curving the tops of the jaws over the same, and by using bolts threaded their entire length, and holding nut above the ridges, and in some cases conical washers and binding nuts have been applied above the ridges. In practice such ridges have acted as fulcrums by which such jaws and nuts were soon worked loose, and the threads worn from the bolts, and added difiiculties provided for the separation of such parts, for the renewal thereof or otherwise.

It is therefore among the objects of this invention to provide for an ordinary wooden handle a holding ferrule or socket permanently aiflxed thereto, and to which the mop head parts and jaws may be easily and firmly connected and easily and quickly separated therefrom. And also so that the several parts of the head may be easily separated from each other for renewal thereof. It is also an object to provide indents in one jaw by which the mop fabric may be securely held against dislodgment while in use.

Further and particular objects are to provide such a socket with oppositely positioned apertures through the walls thereof for sustaining the tops of resilient clamp jaws. Another object is to provide a tightening bolt threaded on one end, and a tapered head or wedge block affixed to the other end thereof. Such head to be provided with oppositely positioned grooves for slidable and tightening relation with the upper portions or necks of such clamp jaws. Such bolt to be provided with an outer thread and a nut for forcing said wedge into such socket and for locking said necks of said jaw rigidly within such socket; and also for simultaneously compressing said jaws 5 of the mop against the cleaning fabric between the same.

With these and other objects that will hereinafter appear, I have illustratively exemplified my invention by the accompanying drawing, of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the assembled head,

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, partly in section, with dotted lines to show a tilted position of the inner jaw, 15

Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in section with dotted lines to show the positions of the inner jaw and bolt when the parts are being disassembled,

Figure 4 is a section view of the socket and parts therein, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 shows a fragmentary portion of the jaws, taken on line 55 of Figure 2, showing the indents in the inner jaw.

Like characters on the different figures represent like parts A represents the lower end of an ordinary wooden mop handle, and B a holding ferrule or socket, rigidly attached to the handle by a rivet C.

D represents the outside jaw of the mop head, 30 and E represents the inner jaw thereof slidably mounted on a binding bolt F. The bolt is provided with a thread and a free turning wing nut G.

A tapered expansion block or wedge shaped 35 head H is aiiixed to the top of the bolt by a cross pin 6.

The outer jaw is provided with side arms continued backward from the front by straight section 8. These provide guides for notches 9 on the ends of the inner jaw E, which are slidably positioned over the guides. The outer arms are then curved upward for a suitable distance to provide space for the holding frame [0 of the inner jaw and nut, and are then extended with necks ll. parallel to each other, and spaced apart slightly wider than the widest diameter of the socket, but are also resilient and readily compressed for insertion into the latter. The top ends of the necks are bent outward at right angles for latch points l2 which are normally projected outward, through suitable latch holes l3, in the walls of the socket. These points normally prevent the mop head parts from separating from the handle socket, but may be manually compressed along with the necks, and released from the latch holes, when it is desired to separate the parts.

The portion of the socket below the handle, is slightly flattened into oblong shape and said necks are adjusted upward along the widest area therein. The block or wedge H is also oblong in cross section to conform and fit within the walls of the socket. Grooves Ml4 on opposite sides of the block are provided, which normally fit over said necks, and bind the same against the inner walls of the socket. As the block fits the oblong opening of the socket, the said necks thereby are rigidly bound to the socket and handle and cannot separately turn. The upper end of the bolt F is projected into, or

through the block, and affixed thereto by the pin 6. The lower portion of the bolt is provided with a thread I on which the nut is freely turned; and the end of the bolt below this nut is loosely extended through the frame ID of the inner In assembling the parts the necks are inserted in the socket till the points reach the latch holes, when these then expand till the necks adjoin the inner walls of the socket. The wedge block is then inserted in the socket mouth, and the nut turned down on the frame to bind the inner jaw against any form of fabric or mop material between the jaws. Continued turning down of the nut forces the wedge block up into the socket, till the parts are securely fastened. The block is provided with a flange l5, between the grooves, which may be struck or gripped, for dislodging the block when it may be desired to remove the same for replacement of a broken outer jaw, or to replace the bolt when the thread becomes worn.

In order to renew or shift the mop fabric, the nut is upturned and the inner jaw elevated. The latter may also be removed when desired, by tilting either end thereof from contact with one of the arms. This is permitted by the loose connection with the bolt.

In practice unwoven fabric or other mop material in ordinary mop heads frequently shifts its position, even when under compression between meeting jaws. I have met this difliculty by providing a series of indents l6 along the inner jaw into which parts of the fabric are compressed, or held by suction. By means of these indents and pressure of the jaws the strands are securely held. When the lower jaw is compressed outward by the nut, the wedge block is also compressed inward into the socket and the side arms held rigidly with the socket and handle.

I am aware that holding jaws have been provided with teeth or serrated faces, but such construction is impracticable in the use of unwoven fabric, such as disconnected strands of cotton cords, hemp strands and other similar material, as now used largely instead of cloth. The ser-. rated edges or teeth prevent the two faces of the jaws meeting together, and the separated strands cannot be bound securely between such projections, and soon slip out from the mop and accumulate on surfaces to be cleaned, particularly rough surfaces. After several years of experim n n I have discovered that by providing indents in one of the jaw faces, that the separated strands will no longer slip from their proper position, as the adjacent portions become slightly embedded in the indents and are so held in part by suction provided by the cavities. In the use of such strands and unwoven material it is also necessary that the jaws be securely clamped to gether and that the jaws be rigidly attached or connected to the handle, and by my construction, I have provided for the necessary coaction for these purposes, as described.

Having described my invention I claim as new 1. A mop head comprising a tubular socket the upper end of which is adapted to hold a handle and the lower portion provided with oppositely positioned holes therethrough, outer and inner clamp jaws for holding fabric, arms and necks extending back from said outer jaw the said necks adapted to be positioned parallel in said socket, outward projecting tips on the ends of such necks adapted to latch into said holes for retaining said necks within said socket, a wedge block adapted to enter said socket between said necks, and provided with oppositely positioned grooves to restrain said necks from lateral movement, a binding bolt affixed to said block and projecting below the same, and provided with a thread on the lower portion thereof, and the lower end of said bolt loosely mounted through a frame upon said inner jaw, a nut on said thread above such frame adapted to bind said jaws against the mop fabric, and adapted to compress said wedge block into said socket for binding said necks rigidly therein simultaneously.

2. A mop head comprising two jaws slidably mounted one inside the other, the outer jaw provided with necks parallel with each other and the tips thereof bent outward at right angles, a handle socket provided with oppositely positioned apertures for holding such tips, a tightener bolt and a wedge head affixed thereon, and adapted to be compressed into said socket between such necks, the outer end of said bolt slidably connected with said inner jaw member and provided with a thread and nut thereon, for compressing said inner jaw outward against said outer jaw and for simultaneously compressing said tapered head into said socket for rigidly binding said necks within said socket.

3. A mop head of several parts adapted to be easily connected together, and adapted to be easily disassembled, comprising, a socket with apertures in opposite sides thereof, a pair of jaws for holding cleaning fabric, side arms with parallel necks on the outer jaw adapted to be inserted in the socket, the ends of such necks bent outward at right angles for projecting through said apertures, a binding bolt with a thread on one end thereof and a wedge shaped head rigidly affixed to the other end thereof provided with oppositely positioned grooves thereon for spanning said necks, a nut on said thread bearing against the inner jaw while said arms are connected to the outer jaw to force such wedge into said socket for rigidly binding said necks therein, and a flange around the lower edge of said wedge to facilitate the disassembly of said parts.

RINSAI MAEDA. 

